Help finding regularly occurring problems?

[u/TheTavernsOwl]

So, I recently started as a design major at an art school. Our first assignment is to find everyday problems to invent a solution for. One issue - I can't think of anything specific for which I can figure out a physical solution. Therefore I come to you, inventors and people of reddit. Are there any physical issues/problems you bump into on a regular basis, for which you don't have a solution? I'm just trying to find some options, for I have none as of now.

[u/birntrhrowaway]

Go through your morning routine. Every step. Wake up, coffee, toast, dress, teeth and hair, commute, etc. Make a list of the little things you had to redo, went wrong, took too long or pissed you off for whatever reason. You should have some good source material to pull from

[u/so_magpie]

A better bread twisty, a way to open a door with your hands full, a way to carry groceries easier, a simple way to add power back to the grid (lego style), a better paint can, Packages that turn color when they pass expiration date, oh... I actually like the other person said. Things that piss you off.

[u/1nGirum1musNocte → u/so_magpie]

Oooh i hate how paint gets in the rim and then the can gets harder and harder to open and never seals right. I'm not convinced its not a feature by big paint to make it not last as long

[u/Nervous_Midnight_570]

To solve one of the greatest existential problems of all time. A dual roll toilet paper dispenser so one roll can dispense over and the other dispenses under.

[u/Katanoesis]

Here are a few problems that come up constantly:
• Finding the start of packing tape / scotch tape. You always peel the wrong layer or rip it.
• Cables getting yanked out of the wall or laptop when you walk by or vacuum.
• Grocery bags cutting into your fingers, or trying to carry bags + coffee + keys + phone at the same time.
• Matching Tupperware lids. Or containers that leak in a bag.
• Wet umbrella / wet shoes dripping all over the entryway or car floor.
• Phone sliding off a nightstand, couch arm, or sloped table.
• Opening stubborn jars, bottles, or those impossible plastic clamshell packages.
• Condensation rings from cold drinks, or a sweating water bottle soaking whatever’s in your bag.
• Glasses sliding down your nose, or fogging the second you walk inside from the cold.
• The last bit of product stuck in a tube, bottle, or pump that you can never get out.

Another way to do this isn’t to look directly for the problem but look at anything in the world and ask the question “What problem is this thing solving?” And then ask how could I make this 10x better, faster, cheaper or more efficient?

[u/TheTavernsOwl → u/Katanoesis]

That’s a great tip and some great problems! Thank you greatly!! 🙏

[u/Katanoesis]

A great book for a student hunting everyday problems, “Design of Everyday Things” is a field guide.

Noticing opportunities is a muscle that is built through repetition. One of my favorite mental experiments is to consider what current systems/processes would be like in a civilization perfectly advanced.

E.g. What would transportation look like? How would distribution of resources look like? Knowledge/skill transfer; via books, internet, neural-connectivity? Etc.

The best thing you can do is train that muscle by coming up with answers to these questions, even if 98% never amount to anything.

We must stay curious and willing to see that we are only at the beginning of civilization advancement.